6 month old still waking every 45 minutes

[Cakeandslippers]

Hello! I'm no stranger to sleep deprivation as my first was a nightmare but I'm really struggling with this one - current lockdown definitely isn't helping.

He'll feed to sleep about 7/8pm, wake after 10 mins, feed to sleep again then he's awake every 20-45 minutes all night. From about 10pm he will absolutely not go back into his cot so I have to cosleep from then (I tolerate it but I hate it as he scratches and pinches me continuously and kicks himself away from me then cries out all the time).

Naps are a pain, used to settle himself but since the 4 mo regression at 3.5 months he has to be held, I continue to try and put him down but with very little success (usually wakes 5-10 mins after I put him down and won't resettle without boob).

I'm not looking for a miracle here but I'd love a 2 hour stint in the evening, or an afternoon nap in the cot, just something where I can have an hour or two without being scratched or pinched... my boobs are so sore from it! Husband tries constantly to settle him and he can get him to sleep sometimes but has to hold him stood up or he wakes.

Things have been like this since he was 3.5 months old - he got croup then the regression hit!

Any ideas?

Don’t do CC at six months. It’s his biological clock waking him up after one sleep cycle which lasts 45 minutes. It’s not his fault.

Try wake to sleep which means you have to put a lot of effort in now but it will work

I got the sleep whisperer book which gave a detailed plan through out the day. I was totally missing sleep cues. Cracking day time sleep is the key to nighttime sleep. Which we are stuck in the house it’s a perfect time to implement it. Honestly it really works. The book gives you a timetable ( something I never ever wanted to do) and it bloody worked.

My DD is 6 months in next couple of days and we've decided to sleep train as I rock her to sleep.
I've done loads of research on the different methods and feel like Ferber or the gradual retreat method will be our best options.
My partner is having to sleep on the couch atm as from 1am I have to co sleep as my DD won't go back in her crib. I'm tired, she's tired and I think it'll be for the best. I don't like co sleeping as I'm keeping her awake and constantly worried about waking her.
I've been prepping and getting her used to a comforter and white noise so I'm only taking myself out of the situation and she still has her other sleep props which I'm hoping will work!
Hope you figure something out x

Is he always feeding to sleep? It sounds like you're being a human dummy?

I'm intrigued as to what on earth someone wrote on this thread that needed to be deleted!

Thanks all, yes I do feed to sleep. I've tried many, many times to find another way but to no avail yet. I've just started him on gaviscon actually as GP suspects he's got silent reflux - I'd written everything off as my daughter had cmpa and I suppose he's a lot tamer than she ever was so I thought he was probably ok. The last 3 nights he's managed 2 hours of sleep in his cot! And an extra nap yesterday! It may be unconnected but either way it's progress!

The challenge I have had is that I haven't been able to lie him down, even for a minute, without screaming and if I hold him he wants to feed. So I'm hoping if this carries on helping I might be able to get him to lie down in his cot, at least to start to find it a relaxing place.

It does sound like silent reflux if he screams when lying down. He is probably feeding for comfort as it does soothe the reflux.

Why not try a dairy-free trial and see what happens? DC1 had silent reflux caused by CMPA and it wasn't obvious but he was much more settled after cutting dairy.

Definitely don't sleep train until you have the silent reflux under control. We didn't sleep train DC1 until I was sure he wasn't in pain. It would definitely be cruel to leave a refluxing baby to cry.

@namechange30 absolutely agree, poor thing if that's the problem and it would explain the feeding all night long.

I did df when he was younger as my eldest has cmpa so I wanted to check with him as he had horrendous reflux. I did 6 weeks but it didn't help so I don't think it's that. Weirdly the sleep went to pot at the same time the reflux started to improve and he started to sit up (early, at 4mo). GP wonders if he's got stronger as he was sitting and so he was sick with less force so it's not always coming out but may have caused inflammation with constant acid hence things getting worse and worse and him getting more and more miserable in the day(still is sick sometimes but nothing like the first few months, some v impressive projectiles!).

If this is it, I do feel a bit bad. My daughter was so extreme in her screaming that my threshold for it is probably quite high, she'd scream for 6 hours solid, it was awful (you'll understand this if you've experienced cmpa). But also if it has been a problem I'm so glad to be able to help him!

OMG does sound like SF.

It is hell!!! Been there for the t-shirt. Best way to mix gaviscon is in a small lidded pot with the water/breast milk and shake hard.

Absolutely sort out the SF before any hope of better sleep.

@randommess thanks that's a great tip, I'll try it later, it's been taking ages mixing with a spoon!

I left some breastfeeding groups as couldn't bear all the negative sleep training stuff. I sleep trained my son at 6 months (gradual retreat approach similar to the Lucy Wolfe method) best thing I ever did. Good luck!

He will want to feed because it's the only thing that helps with the pain.

I was "lucky" mine slept a solid 6 hours out of 24 - I think she just passed out tbh no naps at all and lots of crying and screeching.

Had to be held upright all the time. She liked pressure on her stomach so holding her facing outwards with my arm across her tummy was good. Also I used to put her in the fisher price door bouncer so she could lean on the plastic bar across the front.

Her urine was vile when teething and every tooth was torture. Teething powders, topical pain relief and paracetamol and ibuprofen required.

She was our third, kept being told there was nothing wrong nearly broke us. DC4 was a dream!!

She ended up being late to sit because she'd never had any floor time etc in fact did nothing much for the first 6 months apart from cry! Rest assured she plays hockey and doing A levels now!

What's SF?

Silent reflux

Silent reflux sounds awful, but if that’s under control then I agree on CC, it worked brilliantly for us

Why SF and not SR?
(Don't mean to derail I'm just confused and curious!)

It should be SR

I have dysphasia from having a stroke so make mistakes like that and didn't realise I had.

Oh I see, sorry!

Should have added a 😂 and a 🤦🏼‍♀️

My brain thought the F mattered more than the R
I guess - it's a strange condition!!!